North Texas man accused of killing woman, discarding her body near dumpster
A DeSoto man is a suspect in the killing of a woman whose body was found in an Irving dumpster enclosure earlier this month, Irving police said Friday.
Irving police identified the suspect as Kephren Marcus Thomas, 40.
Thomas has been arrested and was in the Irving Jail, where he faces a charge of murder.
The body of Jessica Hernandez, 22, of Garland, was found Feb. 2 in the 2900 block of North Beltline Road in Irving. She had been reported missing on Jan. 26.
Irving police said a motive for the killing was still unknown.
An arrest warrant written by Irving Detective Adam Mayorga was released by Irving police on Friday. It gave this brief account:
At 4:37 a.m. on Jan. 26, Hernandez was seen on surveillance video leaving her Garland home in a Yellow Cab taxi. Officials with Yellow Cab of DFW told police they had several transactions and attempted transactions from her Garland home.
The person making those calls was later identified as Kephren Thomas.
The cab driver told Irving police Hernandez was taken to a location in DeSoto where a man walked out and paid the fare.
On that same day, Thomas attempted to rent a UHaul cargo van, but he was denied.
Hernandez’s body was found about 12:40 p.m. on Feb. 2 in Irving. She had numerous wounds on the top and the back of her head, and investigators believed she was killed at a different location and then brought to Irving.
Through the investigation, detectives obtained surveillance video from the N. Beltline Road area and saw a white vehicle pull behind the dumpster. The video showed a man get out of the vehicle, open the trunk and appear to pull something out. He walked to the interior area of the dumpster enclosure.
On the morning of Feb. 2, DeSoto police received a call from a woman who told authorities she had allowed Thomas to use her car, and he had driven around Irving and the Las Colinas area.
A search warrant was completed on Thomas’ cell phone and it showed he had been in the 2900 block of N. Beltline Road in Irving on the day Hernandez was found.
